Patagonia (or Bust): Staying There

Getting Ready for Patagonia Means Figuring Out Where to Stay Once we’ve reached Patagonia, the logistical challenges do not end. One might be tempted the think that you can just show up with a backpack and hike. The temptation is false; you can’t just show up and hike either the ‘W’ or the full Torres Del Paine circuit. In fact, […]

The Great Valley

The Great Shenandoah Trip Part I Sometimes a bit of serendipity falls upon one disguised as bad luck. For example…Last week we were supposed to go away for a weekend trip, which would have been the subject of this blog post. Unfortunately, Sylvia’s business commitments prevented this from happening. In search of something to write about, site Editor Brian found […]

The Evolution of a Hiking Dog!

Our Time with Fitz Roy: We’re So Glad to be Adopted by a Great Dog! Few things have proven more satisfying to us than the adventure of dog ownership. When Sylvia and Brian married in 2009, Brian committed on paper to a dog. But that commitment stayed on paper for nearly a decade. Many valid concerns and objections were raised, […]

On A Clear Day…Olympic National Park

A while back we did a post about our visit to Hurricane Ridge in Washington’s great Olympic National Park. Hurricane Ridge is one of the best viewpoints in the Pacific Northwest, for sure, with a tremendous panorama of the Olympic Range. But this was not Brian’s first visit to the area. He first visited Olympic National Park in 2007, during […]

To Kingdom Come: Hiking Mount St. Helens

Mount St. Helens: Part One *Completed by Brian solo in 2007, Mount St. Helens via the Monitor Ridge Route was his second Bucketlist adventure. It is one of the best day hikes in North America for sure, but be warned: This is NOT something that anyone can just show up and do. It is a long, steep, difficult and potentially […]

Uneasy Ground: Mount St. Helens

Mount St. Helens by the Monitor Ridge Route On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens changed forever. That day the top quite literally below right off of the mountain. The explosion was measured in the megatons (the same yardstick commonly used for nuclear weapons.) Combined with powerful flood waves of ash, mud and debris, the catastrophic blast resulted in the […]

Up Is Mandatory!

The Grand Canyon North South Traverse: Part Two, Final Day **Completed in 2003, the North-South Traverse of Grand Canyon is the first true Bucketlist hike that Brian ever did. He would recommend this hike to virtually any able-bodied hiker as a once in lifetime experience, if that hiker is well prepared for the canyon’s unique conditions.** ***Note that the editors […]

Bright Angel

The Grand Canyon North South Traverse: Part One, Days One and Two **Completed in 2003, the North-South Traverse of Grand Canyon is the first true Bucketlist hike that Brian ever did. He would recommend this hike to virtually any able-bodied hiker as a once in lifetime experience, if that hiker is well prepared for the canyon’s unique conditions.** ***Note that […]

Sedona: The Red Rock Paradise

Sedona, AZ There is, believe it or not, much more to see than just the Grand Canyon in Arizona. During their 2009 Grand Canyon expedition Brian and Sylvia decided to see some more of what the Grand Canyon State has to offer. Of course, Brian had in fact been to the Canyon twice before, including a full North-South traverse of […]

Grandscape: The South Rim of the Grand Canyon

  Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Excepting perhaps Yosemeti’s famed valley, no landscape has captured the national imagination like the Grand Canyon. Vast, rugged, strange, fantastic, profound…the grandest of canyons carved by the Colorado River through countless layers of sandstone rock is like no other on earth. There are bigger canyons, but none eclipse the Grand Canyon in scale, beauty […]